Mitchell: 'Doctor Who is a kids' show'

Speaking on the current episode of David Mitchell's Soapbox, the actor suggested that too many things are aimed at children with the assumption that adults will also enjoy them.

Mitchell said of Doctor Who: "It's a children's programme; it's not for me, and I was a fool to think my opinion of it mattered.

"Though not as much of a fool as I would have been if I was an adult thinking that about the original series, which was proudly and unambiguously a children's show - whereas now, for some reason, we're all encouraged to weigh in."

He added: "My parents never watched Doctor Who - it wouldn't have occurred to them to do so. They might have been fond of it, they might have said 'Oh yes, I used to watch that as a child'.

"What they wouldn’t go on to say was '...and I still do now'. Whereas these days, a huge amount of stuff seems to be aimed at children, but with the assumption that adults - and not just parents - will consume it too.

"No-one in the 1920s surely, was reading Winnie the Pooh unless they had a child to read it to."

Last year, new showrunner Steven Moffat dismissed suggestions from Stephen Fry that Doctor Who is "not for adults" and added that the cult show is "designed specifically to be a family programme".